This book was absolutely maddening. I was chosen for a copy from the Goodreads First Reads program. I was so intrigued by the plot that I didn't notice that it was the third in a series. I didn't think it would be that much of a deal since I am an experienced Series Diver. I usually can hop right into the middle of a series and hold my own. However, this time was not so easy. There were so many bits of basic information and subplots about which I was totally clueless. I had no earthly idea what was happening for about a third of the book. And something else that made me crazy? The main character is really big on acronyms. There are so many of them that an acronym page was necessary. I found myself constantly flipping to the back of the book any time an ASTA or an SM:L was mentioned. It made me nuts.

So why didn't I toss it when I realized that I was going to have to work at understanding the story? Because it was urban fantasy at its finest. And that fact more than made up for my ignorance of the backstory.

What I know is this: The main character is an operative for a top secret government agency whose purpose is to hold Chaos at bay and keep the worlds (of which there are many) safe. Her bodyguard is her boyfriend. He wants to get married but she balks at the very mention of the idea. Her family is rather colorful. Her father, a world walker, is in an alternate-Earth prison. When her brothers, one a world walker like Dad and the other a finder (no idea what that means), are kidnapped during a world hopping attempt to find and rescue their father, Nola and her boyfriend, Ari, are called to find and rescue the rescuers. They join forces with Spare14, a clone of an agent with another agency much larger and more powerful than either Nola's or Ari's respective employers.

The plot is clever and Kerr's dialogue made me laugh out loud. The characters are strange and wonderful. There's a psychic squid and a pride of bad-ass were-leopards. There's a world hopping creature that delivers messages and eats leftovers. There are archangels and long suffering landlords. Kerr also gives a nod here and there to other SF/Fantasy authors. Her nod to Douglas Adams was choice.

When I got past the 'huh?' moments and got into the meat of the story, I could not put the book down. I think I may have found out a subplot point or two that are drawn out in the first two books. But that's OK. I don't mind spoilers. And I am definitely planning to pick up the first two books in this series so that I will be up to date when the fourth is released on down the road.

Definitely worth the read. ( )

Interesting new worlds (although describing the new places can be too much too fast sometimes). Nola and Ari are a great couple with great chemistry. Lots of action and excitement. ( )

I'm an unabashed fan of Katharine Kerr's "Nola O'Grady" series. The third, Apocalypse To Go, lives up to its predecessors in inventiveness, drama, romance, and whimsy. In this urban fantasy, the heroine works for a supernatural Agency "so secret, the CIA doesn't know it exists". This takes place in an alternate San Francisco, one in which magic and the clandestine agencies necessary to regulate it are real. This world is not the only one; there are alternate, weirdly dystopic worlds (and a gateway in the attic of Nola's aunt's house). Not only do the Agency and its people hide in plain sight, Nola's family, Irish illegal immigrants with past ties to the IRA, live with secrets, low on the radar. In this newest novel, we not only explore the radioactive San Francisco from previous episodes, but we encounter yet another world, one in which the dominant intelligent race is feline in origin, leopard to be precise. Apocalypse To Go definitely builds on the previous two books, but Kerr offers enough toe-holds so that it can serve as an entry point. Readers should be warned, however, that the series is addictive. ( )

The series keeps chugging along, as Nola O'Grady deals with new threats and old secrets. ( )